The Great Village Show By Alexandra Brown

[amazon_link id=”0007597398″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’The Great Village Show’ is Alexandra’s latest book in the Tindledale series.

Tindledale is in a titter. The Village Show competition is coming around again and after last year’s spectacular failure, the villagers are determined to win. Meg, teacher at the local school, is keen to help and to impose some much-needed order. After a terse encounter with a newcomer to the village, Meg discovers that it is celebrity chef and culinary bad boy, Dan Wright. Meg thinks he is arrogant and rude but rumour has it that Dan is opening a new restaurant in the village which could really put Tindledale on the map! As things come together, villagers old and new all start to come out of the woodwork, including new arrival Jessie, who seems to have it all. But first impressions can be deceptive and Meg discovers that when it comes to Tindledale – and Dan – nothing is ever quite as it seems…

The story is seen through the eyes of Meg, who is the acting head teacher of the local primary school. Meg is a warm character with a huge heart, her life has become slightly lonely since her only son Jack, went off to university and now she lives alone with her only her rabbit, Blue for company. One of the pillars of the small and close knit community, she enjoys the friendship with B&B owner Lawrence and sometimes wishes she had someone to share her evenings with. Her life is moving smoothly along until one day, her beloved school is in jeopardy of being closed down, just as the village is about to compete in the local village fairs competition and all the villagers come together determined to make their little village sparkle and hope that this will encourage parents to enroll their children at the school.

But the threat of the school being closed down is not the only thing that is messing with Meg’s head as the arrival of celebrity and temperamental chef Dan Wright, who seems to regularly rile with Meg and often find themselves in awkward and embarrassing moments particularly for Meg, who finds attracted to the man who makes her blood boil.

The book is primarily about the community spirit of the village and bonding over the village fair but there is also a smaller sub story about newcomer Jessie and her family, who have left the hustle and bustle of the city for the quietness of the country life and this part of the story makes for quite subdued reading in this mostly upbeat tale.

As per usual, with Alex’s previous offerings, ‘The Great Village Show’ is a charming and magical story about teamwork, love and new beginnings and makes for entertaining and warmhearted reading.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”0007597398″ target=”_blank” ]The Great Village Show (Tindledale 2) from Amazon [/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.